How Did Jackie Robinson Show Courage

Jackie Robinson was one of the most historically well known people in the civil rights movement. So as the first man to integrate major league baseball, Jackie Robinson had a game changing impact on the way the game was played. Having the courage to fight for what is right, Jackie broke the imaginary color barrier that has covered major league baseball for years. Through his resiliency and tenaciousness in the face of seemingly unconquerable odds, Jackie Robinson set the course for African Americans to continue the expansion for equality and true freedom while he was becoming one of the greatest Major League baseball players in history.

Jackie Robinson demonstrated this character trait when he started to play major league baseball and endure racial threats from fans and teammates. For example, according to the text “Hero” “When he was summoned by history, he risked his safety and sanity to give history the last full measure of his strength, nerve, and perseverance.” (Scott) This shows courage because he had to take the racial threats and harmful words and not fight back. Knowing something bad could happen. This made Jackie Robinson a successful civil rights advocate because he showed what people of color could do without

Courage is as stated in The New International Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language to be “the capacity to meet danger or difficulty with firmness.” In my mind courage has always meant doing what you had to do, and dealing with it because you had to. I never had a choice in my life whether I wanted to move to a different city

Additionally Jackie robinson was always an athlete and a pretty good one, he was good at a lot

Courage is a trait that has been possessed by a lot of leaders in history, from presidential leaders to civil right leaders, to even athletic coaches, courage is used in every leadership position and is a very important trait when wanting to become a leader. Courage takes a lot of self-work you must be fully committed to your values and what you believe in before you go out and get a career like Job. Frederick Douglas escaped slavery and later became a main leader of the anti-slavery movement through all his published writings. Courageous leaders also make time for their peers and their employees because courageous leaders not only believe in themselves but believe in the team that works for them. Courage is also shown through sports form coaches to players. They are required to sacrifice some of their beliefs so their team can be one unit and work as one. They show courage day in and down out, standing up for what they believe in and their team which speaks volumes within an organization. Courageous leaders seem to be the most effective type of leaders because those types of leaders relate to you or has a common interest. These leaders preach what they believe and stick to it even through tough times when it calls for them to step outside their box.

Many influential leaders took after Jackie’s example and leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. The events that came after Robinson’s legendary baseball debut helped to further the course of civil rights. “First, President Truman issued Executive Order 9982 on July 26th, 1948, just over a year after Robinson faced his first pitcher at Ebbets Field, abolishing discrimination in the armed forces. It is certainly reasonable to assume that Truman’s timing was informed by Robinson’s successful integration of professional baseball. Truman’s desegregation of the military no doubt informed the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision desegregating public schools in 1954, which in turn informed the actions of Rosa Parks on her bus, leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott… leading to the leadership role of Martin Luther King Jr.” (Gates, PBS). The actions and pioneering of Robinson inspired many other leaders to arise in the Civil Rights Movement and many big milestones like the desegregation of schools to be influenced. Without any of these, and therefore without Robinson’s actions to set them off, the modern Civil Rights Movement would not exist. Setting off the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans also looked up to Jackie, he was an empowering figure and role model for the whole African American community around the country. Hank Aaron quotes in I Never Had It Made,

Rickey’s reasoning for recruiting Jackie Robinson was to put an end to the unwritten rule in Major League Baseball of segregation (Jackie Robinson breaks major league color barrier). To Rickey, Robinson was the perfect candidate because he was aggressive, but was also moral and he controlled himself. Before Robinson signed a contract, Branch Rickey had Robinson agree that no matter how hard the persecution got he would have enough control to not fight back (Chamberlain). Robinson had a hard decision to make. If he went ahead and signed a contract, he would have to be strong enough to take the humiliation and discrimination. He ended up signing the contract (Jackie Robinson: Desegregation Begins with a

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives”- Jackie Robinson (Baseball Almanac). Jackie Robinson’s life accomplished more than impacting others, he impacted a nation. His humble upbringing, strong will, and fight for equality is unmatched by any other. He was one of the first African Americans to stand up for equal rights and broke through many barriers to allow others to fight with him. His Hall of Fame career on the baseball diamond is only a small piece to Jackie’s story of struggle and hardship to reach equality.

Courage by definition is the ability to do something that scares you. Courage is very bad. Courage is something some black people didn’t have back in the 1900s. Black people were scared to stand up for themselves. Melba had courage. Melba stood up for herself. Melba wanted to integrate Central High School.(page1). (page1-10). page(1-10).

Why is Jackie Robinson one of the most iconic people in history? Because Robinson defied segregation by playing Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1945 to 1956 (Wise 2). He bravely fought for many years to play as an African-American player without giving up; despite all the hurdles he had to jump, Robinson silently overcame the obstacles that they handed to him with quiet dignity (Henninger 7). As a result, Robinson well represented the African-American community in professional sports, and in so doing, he helped inspire others in the Civil Rights Movement. Robinson was the start to ending the color barrier.

Jackie Robinson’s life changed when he became the first black man to play in the World Series and Major League Baseball during a time of segregation in America. These life-changing events challenged him because he had to face racially tense crowds and endured threats from teammates, opponents, and bigoted fans. In paragraph three, Robinson states, “There were threats against me and my family and even out-and-out attempts at physical harm to me. This quote explains that Jackie Robinson was facing racist people who were threatening him. Despite the racism he faced, Robinson learned to have pride in his accomplishments and appreciate the support courage, and love shown by his supporters. In paragraph eleven, Robinson states,”I don’t think i’ll ever forget the small, shrill voice of a tiny white kid who, in the midst of a racially tense atmosphere during an early game in a Dixie town, cried out “Attaboy Jackie”.” This quote explains how Robinson had pride in himself after a tiny white kid motivated him by encouraging him that he was a really good baseball player. Robinson responded to the life-changing events by not giving up when he was getting hate and racism. In paragraph three, it states, “Within the club, Mr. Rickey had put down rebellion that by letting my teammates know that anyone who didn’t want to be

It has been said that real heroes risk their lives for others and Jackie Robinson has proven to be a hero. Robinson was “the first African American major league ballplayer of the twentieth century” (Scott 2) and has influenced many people on and off the field. When he “took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day, April 15, 1947, he forever changed the face of major league baseball (“Jackie Robinson - Changing Major League Baseball”, 0:06-0:16). Throughout his years of playing on the field, he became a “militant campaigner for civil rights” (Scott 6) to show how it is important to America's history. Robinson has made major contributions to the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement by showing his courage, confidence, and what he stands for.

Robinson had an incredible year in the minor league and was promoted to the MLB in no time. Branch Rickey and other GM’s saw how talented Jackie was and figured other black players would be very beneficial to their teams as well. Jackie Gave African Americans hope from playing and they saw how easily he dealt with this hate that came his

Robinson later moved to Florida to practice his spring training with the Royals. This is where he became the first black player to ever play in a major league baseball game. Even though Rickey knew times would get hard for Jackie, he made Jackie promise to never fight back when the racism started to hit him. Robinson’s reactions to the racism were also tested by Rickey at the beginning of his career. Some of Robinson’s team mates didn’t agree with him being on their team. Jackie and his parents were threatened by people in the crowds.

lives. Which is shown in this quote said by Jackie Robinson, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on others' lives.” He had a great impact on many peoples lives successfully completing his life goal.